Commercial/wholesale growers selling HVX infected plants

Post by **Chris_W** » May 31, 2005 7:23 pm

For nursery owners like myself I thought it would be important for people to know which wholesale growers are selling HVX infected plant stock and which plants, to my knowledge, are infected and often STILL being sold.

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Darwin Plants: Reported to be the #1 perennial exporter in the world, and probably the worst offender for selling HVX infected hostas. They also have refused to acknowledge the problem or respond to emails about it. To date I can confirm the following plants have been sold by them, infected with HVX:

Striptease - selling HVX infected plants at least since 2003, continued in 2004, and confirmed with other growers that they are still shipping HVX infected Striptease in 2005.

Paradise Joyce - infected plants tested positive from shipment in 2004, did not grow well and looked odd.

Goldrush - I have heard of NO cases of plants being shipped that were NOT infected. I would consider this plant as a 100% infected cultivar and would never purchase it.

Diamond Tiara - plants from 2003 to date.

Venucosa - plants received in 2004, highly infected

Sweet Susan - plants received in 2004

I would be very wary about buying any hostas from Darwin Plants and would suggest keeping them in quarantine for at least a season and get as many plants virus tested as possible. This year I am watching many hostas from Darwin's and am not happy with what I am seeing.

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Van Bloem Gardens:

Blue Cadet - highly infected plants received in 2005

Paradise Joyce - looked odd but tested negative in 2004, however plants show possible HVX by visual inspetion in 2005

Revolution - plants from 2004 tested positive for HVX

Golden Tiara - highly infected in 2004, would be very suspicious of any Golden Tiara purchased from them before or since then.

Regal Splendor - a very small number of plants from 2003 showed some viral symptoms in 2005

Guacamole - virus symptoms were noted on a couple plants from one batch and later tested positive for HVX by ELISA

Katherine Lewis - virus symptoms were noticed in one batch and also tested positive for HVX by ELISA

Whirlwind - an unkown virus was detected by electron microscopy

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Simple Pleasures aka Van Bourgendien:

Van Bourgendien is a strictly contract seller. They do not grow any of their own hostas so simply buy from the lowest bidder. Because they have no control over their own hosta supply we do not recommend purchasing any hostas from them at this time.

Sum & Substance - plants from 2004 were just starting to show symptoms. Some tested positive, others tested negative by ELISA, but even those testing negative were confirmed to have the virus by Dr. Lockhart of the Univ. of Minnesota by viewing a partial extraction under the electron microscope. So this confirms that all plants in a batch can have the virus whether they show symptoms or not or whether they are testing positive (yet).

Undulata Albomarginata - sold in 2004 and probably the same infected plants were sold in 2005

Gold Standard - these were sold for a long period of time infected with Arabis Mosaic Virus.

I would be highly suspicious of their Hosta 'Stiletto' as these were purchased under contract by both Van Bourgendien and DeVroomen and the plants on the market are highly infected with HVX.

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DeVroomen (watch for the "Garden Joy" plant labels)

Stiletto - plants sold in 2004 and 2005 are highly infected with HVX. As noted above I would be very wary of this cultivar on today's market unless the seller grew them from their own, older plant stock.

Striptease sold in 2003, 2004, and 2005. DeVroomen has acknowledged that their Striptease tested positive for HVX in the fields, yet they continue to have Striptease on their availability list TO THIS DAY.

Sum & Substance - DeVroomen has acknowledged that they have Sum & Substance in the fields testing positive for HVX, but they are simply removing the plants that test positive and are selling the ones that test negative. I would be very wary of Sum & Substance on today's market.

El Nino - plants purchased in 2003 tested negative in 2004 but 40 to 50% of the plants purchased in 2004 tested positive at the same time. The plants from 2003 have grown really well while those from 2004 struggled, which is sometimes a good sign of infection, even if there are no other obvious symptoms. People should be mindful of this one, and we will get our stock tested again this year just to be sure.

Halcyon - plants purchased in 2005 have tested positive for HVX by ELISA

Minuteman - plants purchased in 2005 tested positive for HVX by ELISA

Patriot - plants purchased in 2005 tested positive for HVX by ELISA

Of all the growers we have spoken with DeVroomen is doing the most testing, now testing leaves, roots, and crowns. However, they do not seem to understand that a negative test does not mean "virus free", it simply means the virus either not there or not at a high enough concentration to yet test positive.

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Walters Gardens:

Gold Standard sold in 2005 - these have come up and even though I spoke with Dave Walters last summer and he told me they are testing for HVX their Gold Standard have the virus by visual inspection. The signs are so clear that I am 100% sure it is HVX.

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Zelenka:

As reported by Wanda here on the forums, Zelenka, a large container plant wholesaler in Michigan, sold infected plants to Home Depot in Michigan. I do not recall the variety but I would be very wary of plants from them.

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AMG:

As reported by Jim Soper and other nursery owners. I believe AMG is simply a reseller, probably getting plants from someplace like Darwin Plants

Striptease - sold in 2005 and possibly earlier
Diamon Tiara - sold in 2004

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I hope this information is useful for nursery owners purchasing plants from wholesalers. Also feel free to add your experiences purchasing from wholesale companies here.

Perhaps by blowing the whistle on these companies it will impact their bottom line enough to do something about it...

mooie · Post by **mooie** » May 31, 2005 10:20 pm

Chris, that is an awesome list. Thanks so much. I'm going to take it to the sister nursery of the garden center where I work and give them your advice. Having happened to walk thru their hostas a couple weeks ago, I pulled a virused Striptease out of a middle of the pack of a bunch of Patriots, and I went to the office immediately and explained all I knew about HVX. I learned that these plants were at least 2 years old and no one was really sure where they had been ordered from. I told my bosses to make sure they got no more plants from them. As separate division businesses, they are highly culpable for what they sell to the landscaper, but while I'm at the other, no diseased hosta will pass by me and escape to the public. They don't understand and when $$ are your main goal, I guess they don't care either. In my opinion, they should burn every dang hosta they have! But that's just me. Thanks again! Maybe I can help out by giving them your list.

mooie

viktoria · Post by **viktoria** » Jun 01, 2005 6:47 am

I greatly appreciate the information, Chris. Fortunately I have bought none of the abovementioned varieties in recent years, and I only do business with one of the wholesalers you mention.

I did get one virused plant last year from a company known to import from Holland. They promptly refunded my money. I am now, however, leery of purchasing anything else from them until I hear that they have cleaned up and tested their stock.

Post by **Chris_W** » Jun 01, 2005 8:30 am

Viktoria, I was wondering if you would be willing to share the name of the company you bought from? Or are they not a wholesale company and just a nursery? I am hoping that if we all blow the whistle on these companies it might prompt them to do something about it...

I am sure this list is not entirely comprehensive. And right now 3 of the 10 varieties of hostas I received from Darwin Plants this year appear to be infected, but I don't want to list them yet until they are tested.

And I really thing anyone considering selling plants through Darwin's should think twice about it!

viktoria · Post by **viktoria** » Jun 01, 2005 11:43 am

Chris, I did not name the company because I feel that they have been badly hurt already by this debacle and they are doing their best to correct the situation at their end. They are good people and have not (and I trust will not) knowingly sent out any more infected plants.

I would hope that if I made a mistake and did my best to correct it, I would not be thereafter judged on the basis of that one incident.

caliloo · Post by **caliloo** » Jun 01, 2005 11:55 am

I stopped at my local Lowe's last weekend just to look around. They were just bringing a cart of perennials in from "the back" and I decided to look at the hostas they had mixed in. There were several Gold Standard that were definitely showing HVX and I pointed it out to the supervisor on duty. He promptly asked the employee to unload all the non-hosta plants and put the hostas in "the back" to be returned to the distributor. He commented that the batch of plants were from the same distributor that had sent virused hostas earlier this season. I thought I caught the name of the distributor, but I want to call and verify before I name names. I will post when I have confirmed the name.

It is a shame that the message does NOT seem to be getting through to the distribtors using polite means.

Alexa

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jun 01, 2005 2:10 pm

This is so frustrating! These growers need to be made liable for selling virused plants! I bought a two eyed Brim Cup from a local nursery down the street from me this Monday. I asked her who she bought her Hosta from and she said from all over and asked why? I explained that the HVX was identified in several growers plants and she said she was aware of it. The Oklahoma County extension office (a part of Oklahoma State University) had just held a full day class on HVX and showed them how to identify it, and gave them lists of the known virused plants and the nursery's who supplied them. I was very glad to hear that! She also said to the best of her knowledge the Brim Cup I purchased was fine, it was not purchased from one of the suspect nursery/growers, but if I found any problem in the first year to bring it in to her and she would refund my money!
I thought that was good service and told her I appreciated her diligence. I also passed on the name of this forum in case she wanted to get on with us! I will get a pic of the Brim Cup posted as soon as I can so you all can tell me what you think before I put it in the ground.

Ginger

doublemom2 · Post by **doublemom2** » Jun 01, 2005 6:06 pm

Way to go Chris!!! Thanks so much for sharing this info with us. When I give talks on Shade Gardening (through the Master Gardener program), I ALWAYS mention HVX and recommend that people never ever ever buy boxed hostas or any hostas for that matter from the big box stores like Walmart and Home Depot, etc, until this HVX is under better control.

Andi

JoshS · Post by **JoshS** » Jun 01, 2005 6:59 pm

Thanks for sharing this info, Chris. Like Viktoria, I lucked out and only buy from one of these companies and none of the suspect varieties.

Post by **Chris_W** » Jun 01, 2005 8:09 pm

I forgot about El Nino purchased from DeVroomen in 2004 and added that one in.

Be careful of the growers that you do purchase from. We are seeing it in enough plants now to discontinue buying from any of them, especially Darwin's. By now they may have contaminated their entire fields.

Bluecanoe · Post by **Bluecanoe** » Jun 02, 2005 2:32 am

Chris, I spotted a very badly infected Krossa Regal Wednesday afternoon at Wal-Mart, I've not seen the virus in that variety before. I wanted to buy it to bring it home and photograph, DH was with me and didn't want it anywhere near our house. I still may go back so I can photograph it before tossing it out, $5.97 isn't going to kill me!

Lynda

DryGulch · Post by **DryGulch** » Jun 02, 2005 9:01 am

Chris,

To my understanding AMG is a group of growers that band together under the AMG logo.

Is anyone aware of any other hosta than the two mentioned having the virus?

shadylanejewel · Post by **shadylanejewel** » Jun 02, 2005 11:30 am

NW Bulb & Perennial based in Oregon 2004 Hosta montana Aureo Marginata

Another nursery (now closed) bought in a lot of hostas from this same supplier and many of theirs appear to have HVX.

The owner Rene Huurman has assured me he no longer is buying in and directly reselling any stock and that he has been rigorously testing for HVX.

caliloo · Post by **caliloo** » Jun 07, 2005 1:06 pm

I am so frustrated!

I had stopped at my local Agway a few weeks ago and spotted some definitely virus infected plants. I pointed it out to the plant buyer (owner) and she thanked me and took a copy of the HVX article from the Hosta Journal. She promised to speak to the wholesaler and ask for only "guaranteed" virus free plants in the future.

I had to pick up alfalfa pellets today so I stopped back at the same Agway and sure enough - more infected plants. I spoke to the manager who called the plant buyer over and she was very short with me and said that until they are told by the Pa Dept of Ag (or other "official" department) they would continue selling the plants since there was nothing "officially" wrong with them!

I got my dander up at this point and asked if it was the policy of the nursery to intentionally sell sick and diseased plants.

She said they were not convinced there is anything wrong with the hostas and assured me that the wholesaler had been told of HVX and was doing "testing". I then mentioned that they really needed to use the ELISA test and she waved me off saying the wholesaler was responsible and would never send her diseased plants and I was raising a fuss over nothing.

I spoke to the manager (he was trying to be helpful

) on the way out and he said they were getting all their stock from Johnson Nursery Corp and that they were told to "set the plants aside" until testing was complete. Their solution is to put the suspect plants at the other end of the hosta display where they might not be the first plant selected. They are definitely still within easy reach if someone wants one though.

Do you think it would do any good to try to contact Agway Corp offices and report this franchise?

Alexa

PS - I also tried to find out who had sent the infected stock to my local Lowe's, but I was told it is proprietary info and they would not disclose the source.

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » Jun 07, 2005 2:21 pm

Sounds to me like the growers are circling the wagons!

Ginger

Post by **Chris_W** » Jun 07, 2005 3:39 pm

Yup, a lot of finger pointing going on, that's for sure!

I don't care who is responsible at this point, just fix it

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jun 07, 2005 5:07 pm

Alexa...do write the corporate office and maybe even write a letter to your local newspaper.
I haven't even looked at my local box stores for hostas this year. I'm just too afraid to buy any from them.

mamaw2 · Post by **mamaw2** » Jun 08, 2005 1:08 pm

I'd also contact your PA Dept of Ag. I've been in touch with several agencies from local to state and you'd be amazed at who doesn't know yet.

morgansrgr8 · Post by **morgansrgr8** » Jun 12, 2005 6:37 pm

I was just at the local Lowes and found a Gold Standard infected with the virus. I asked to talk to the manager and I told him what I knew of it. I also told him I had to dig up 2 hosta's of my own and destroy them after I had them tested. Hubby said I looked like I was going to break down and cry. I kinda did because it was only the day before I had to dig up 2 big hosta's. They looked so happy. And I cut them up and destroyed them. Went in and washed before touching another plant.
The manager said he would look for more infected plants and I told him that they didn't have to look sick to be sick. If they came in the same batch they were sick. It was still on the counter 15 minutes after I left the desk. I guess I could go back and check. This time taking some reading material for him. I also told him of this forum to check things out or to contact the ag department.
I am not a confrontational person and it took alot out of me.

I don't know if I could do it again. Is there anything else I can do besides going back to the same person.

Linda

Justme · Post by **Justme** » Jun 13, 2005 12:31 am

Good for you Morgansrgr8! And everyone else who is standing up to the growers and demanding responsible business practices!

I haven't even looked at box stores for two seasons now. They don't carry anything I don't have already or need at this point. Now with the HVX, well it just isn't safe. I also tell anyone even thinking about purchasing a hosta, "Don't buy at the Box stores!" Tell If they want a hosta that bad I will break down and given them one of mine. I have a few that are nice, but not named or very common.

Of course, now I am worried about all of my plants! I only started collecting in late 2002. If the virus can be in hiding for 4 to 6 years then I have some that might still be sick, but I don't know it

And what if I have divided, moved, dug, whatever and prior to this season I didn't disinfect my trowels, shovels, etc!!!

Tami